Attendance at Homecoming events was up this year, and organizers believe that students turned out for more than just the football game.
Penn officials said that one of their goals for the weekend was to increase student awareness of and attendance at events, including lectures, a symposium and awards ceremonies.
"By all accounts, we surpassed attendance at all events," Alumni Relations Director of Classes and Reunions Katherine Lowe said, adding that specific numbers about attendance were not yet available.
Lowe said that more than 100 students attended a Friday lecture by Donny Deutsch, an advertising executive and CNBC television host.
She added that 25 student volunteers worked to ensure that everything progressed smoothly on campus.
A new feature of Homecoming Weekend was a faculty symposium, held on Friday, entitled "Youth and Aging: Penn Integrates Knowledge Locally and Globally."
"I certainly think the event went very well, and the dialogue with the panels really captured the diversity of thinking on a variety of topics," Faculty Senate Chairwoman Neville Strumpf said.
The symposium, which featured two separate panels of Penn faculty as well as remarks from President Amy Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels, also incorporated audience questions and feedback.
Strumpf said that although there were about 100 people in attendance, she had hoped for a slightly larger audience.
"It was a good cross-section of students and faculty in attendance, and we are already thinking of planning a similar event for next year, but probably not on a Friday afternoon again," Strumpf said.
Though Lowe said that student attendance was up compared to that in years past, many students seemed to have passed on most of the weekend's activities aside from the football game.
"Actually I didn't attend any of the Homecoming events last weekend because I was busy studying for midterms," College freshman Angela Athanasoula said.
College freshman Jennifer Phuong, who only went to the football game, said, "I only went this year because it is my first Homecoming, but I probably won't go again."
Phuong added that "it seemed like there weren't as many people [at the game] as there could have been."
Wharton sophomore Sheldon Fields was not able to attend any of the Homecoming events, but he was aware of many of the events that were taking place.
"If I was here, I probably would not have gone anyway," Fields said.
Homecoming still featured a variety of events that appealed to the large number of alumni on campus.
Lowe cited the Old Guard Brunch -- which featured members of the Class of 1936 at the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology -- as well as the football game and the Philly Fest on the Green as highlights of the weekend.
"With a weekend this big, there are a lot of logistics, and I think it went incredibly well," Lowe said. "Even with the SEPTA strike, it didn't put a damper on the weekend."
"It was a magnificent weekend, and we got very lucky with the beautiful weather," she added.
